US House Votes to Ban New Synthetic Drugs

The House of Representatives voted last Thursday to pass HR 1254, the Synthetic Drug Control Act of 2011, which would criminalize not only synthetic stimulants ("bath salts"), but also synthetic cannabinoids ("fake pot") marketed under names such as "K2" and "Spice."

Spice and other synthetic cannabinoids and stimulants will be banned under the bill passed by the House (wikimedia.org)

The bill passed on a roll call vote of 317-98. Sixteen Republicans joined with 82 Democrats to vote against the prohibitionist measure.

At least 40 states have passed bans on the new synthetic drugs, and the DEA has placed both fake pot and bath salts under emergency bans. The bill would make both sets of substances Schedule I drugs under the Controlled Substances Act, which would pose substantial impediments to researching them. Scientists have warned Congress that placing the synthetic drugs under Schedule I will have a chilling effect on ongoing efforts to explore treatments for a range of diseases and disorders.

Under the bill, prison sentences of up to 20 years could be imposed for the distribution of even small quantities of the new synthetics.

Seeking some small solace in the wake of the vote, Bill Piper, national affairs director for the Drug Policy Alliance, which had lobbied to defeat the bill, said it was "significant" that nearly a hundred members of the House had broken with drug war orthodoxy to vote against the bill.

Banning synthetic cannabinoids is going to have a major impact on researchers studying the human endogenous cannabinoid system. Synthetic cannabinoids are major research tools to study the endocannabinoid system for pharmaceutical drug development and fundamental biomedical research. Literally hundreds of researchers career's and research projects are going to stagnate as a result of this law. Scientists who never had to get DEA licenses before now will go through a tedious and long process seeking approval to study substances which could be denied by the DEA for any reason they want. This is a serious blow to the medical and scientific community.

I have lived a lifetime watching you protect the tax dollars generated from the sales and distribution of both alcohol and tobacco. The American public obviously enjoy using these products, and you obviously enjoy making the revenues from their use. In recent years, however, your judgment has become clouded and biased to the point that it is ridiculous. You established a legal age to consume alcohol and and tobacco, in order to protect the youth from themselves. This business grew into a multi billion dollar revenue stream, so you are unwilling to face the facts that both tobacco and alcohol are directly responsible for the deaths of hundreds and thousands of people every year.

Today, synthetic stimulants or synthetic cannaboids arise and you instantly ban them in the name of protecting the youth. Why not establish a legal age to really be free to choose. Why not establish why certain ways to kill yourself and others is okay yet others are instantly condemned.

I am an American; I believe in personal freedoms and liberties. I also understand the need for regulation and control; however, let's compare apples to apples or killers to killers. Alcohol and tobacco are far more dangerous and have claimed far more lives than all of the wars our country has fought combined. Why single out the synthetic drugs because you haven't found a way to over tax them yet? Perhaps you are receiving monies from the drug cartels or tobacco companies to eliminate the competition.

Any american over the legal age of 21 should have the right to choose both how they live, and HOW THEY DIE. If I don't want to wear a seat belt or a motorcycle helmet, then you shouldn't require it. If I want to smoke synthetic pot or snort synthetic cocaine, then you shouldn't stand in my way....NOT La nouvelle version du classique de chronographe IWC avec le Portugal chronographe classique (modèle 3904), et son sens surnaturel, l'un des plusieurs séries populaires de design élégant replique montres Hublot Big Bang, parce que c'est L'apparence est habituellement une nouvelle, plus unique et rafraîchissante.

AS LONG AS YOU ARE ALLOWING, TAXING, PROMOTING, AND ASSISTING THE ALCOHOL AND TOBACCO COMPANIES TO INFLUENCE, DISTRIBUTE, AND ADVERTISE PRODUCTS THAT ARE PROVEN DEADLY, UNHEALTHY, AND ADDICTIVE.

I HAVE NOTHING AGAINST TOBACCO USERS OR ALCOHOLICS; IT IS THEEIR CHOSE. I AM AN ADVOCATE FOR DEREGULATION. IF YOU HAVE THE EXTRA TIME FOR EXTENSIVE DEBATE OF ANYTHING THAT WOULD BE GOOD FOR AMERICA...FIX THE ECONOMY, REFORM HEALTHCARE, ELIMINATE WELFARE, AND PUT AMERICA BACK TO WORK. STOP RUINING MY LEGAL OUTLETS FOR PERSONAL ENJOYMENT. WHAT'S NEXT, A BILL REQUIRING CONDOMS WHEN HAVING SEX TO SOMEONE YOU AREN'T MARRIED TO? READ THE CONSTITUTION, ENFORCE THAT FOR A CHANGE.

Why use synthetics when you can have the real thing ? I`d rather have my THC come from a plant instead of a chemistry lab . Legal Cannabis will put these folks out of business . Some retailers of this stuff even charge cocaine prices for it . See ya.....

"Burnt Scientist" makes a good point that these synthetic cannabinoids are currently the only way to do legitimate endocannabinoid research. HOWEVER, that doesnt mean it should be sold in smoke shops, this stuff can really be bad for you! Deaths and brain damages in teens have already been linked to this stuff and even if those are just coincidental I still don't believe that smoking this s&^% can be good for you at all.

Truth is weed is still illegal (BOO!) which means that many teens are scared to try it because they're afraid they will be caught by the cops or even fired from jobs when they test positive. So they are driven to try this stupid "Spice" so they can see what it is like. That's not good people!

If anything they should be encouraged to try the real NATURAL herbs, but because they're scared of getting in trouble and we have literally no drug education in this country, they have to put this crap in their bodies.

where is your evidence? Linked to? how long have you been reading STDW....?

Yeah, there were dozens of deaths in the UK 'linked' to mephedrone when it was legal because people took it and died at some point later.. AFAIK, around 2 were proven to be actual overdose incidents... following that logic, we should ban chocolate and peanuts.. the media will link drugs to anything they can for the shock factor. Cops will link anyone they can to drug use because it makes their jobs lucrative and easy.

that's like saying there are millions of violent crimes each year Linked to drinking water.. it's sad that there are some places in the world where this is actually the case, but, in the usa noone fights over bottled drinking water, but

everyone who's ever committed a violent crime drinks water

You are subscribing to and even contributing to the unfounded fear without intricate knowledge... people like you are why alchohol and tobacco are legal and pot isn't.

The prevalence of and popularity of Spice (type) smoking goods is entirely predicated by, and a product of, a failed drug policy that wouldn't know unintended consequences or harm minimisation if it fell over it.

It is criminal the government even ascribes to any form of harm reduction as a policy. The prohibitors stole the language and defined the politics by obfuscation and fostering moral panic. All for a good cause they say....

"prohibit and lock up people for what I don't like, and legalize what I do. Make sure noone ever has any choice but mine".

sound familiar?.. unless you have a degree in neurochemistry, or do personal studies of these things (which it sounds an awful lot like you don't) and are speaking from personal scientific knowledge, your opinions do nothing but contribute to the stigmata that the whole industry gathers. Yeah- Ban *some* synthetic pot, so that natural plants are still illegal, but plenty will be left for big Pharma. Federal Analog Laws apply in reverse too. Please have a better understanding of what you advocate before trying to be a contributor. that's like the senate making chemical legislation where 99% have no comprehension at all of science or engineering. where propaganda and the allmighty dollar rules.